Important but challenging meditations, applying Jesus to everyday life.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Three Pigs, part 3

The third pig was named Trio, for his mother had little
imagination, and he too traveled his own path.
Before he left, however, he cleaned his shirt, pressed his trousers and
arranged for his mother to give him a good haircut, for cleanliness is next to godliness,
or so he was taught.

He traveled at his ease, singing a song his mother taught
him, taking the path his brothers had not, and strolling at his leisure. After a time, without him breaking a drop of
sweat, he strolled past a farmer. The
farmer ask him, “Sir pig with the golden locks, might you transport this load
of bricks to the dump for me?”

Trio
laughed and said, “I shall make my money lighter than that load you
offer.”

Then, just before him, he saw a penny on the ground. He picked it up, placed it in his lined
pocket and said, “A penny saved is a penny earned!”

The farmer looked at him with new eyes and said, “You are
wise, sir pig, and I would wish to know your wisdom.”

Trio said, “Talk is cheap, but wisdom is expensive. Should you wish to know my wisdom, it will
cost you three gold coins.”

The farmer replied, “It is worth three coins to obtain words
which might bear me ten,” and he handed over three coins.

Trio then explained to the farmer all the sayings he had
from his mother: “Good things come to those that wait,” “Ask not what your country
do for you, but what you can do for your country,” “Put your money where your mouth is,” “Dance to the beat of a different
drummer,” He taught him how to “make a
mountain out of a mole hill,” and how to
“keep up with the Jones” and many other sayings with helpful explanatory
commentary by Trio himself. Somehow, he
failed to tell the farmer how not to “not
throw pearls before swine,” so at the
end of the hour, the farmer gave Trio three more coins.

He then said, “This is wisdom beyond measure, Sir Pig. Might I gather some of my friends to listen
to your speech?”

Trio said, “As long as they have three coins each to give
for the wisdom.” The Farmer had learned
much already from Trio and explained how they could all listen to Sir Pig for
only four coins each.

It was not long before Sir Pig (as Trio is now known) spoke
ten lectures a week, had a book deal and was signed up for a television
show. As soon as he had a moment to
breathe (for he was so popular he had to hire an assistant to catch his breath),
he hired a contractor to take the pile of bricks he was originally offered, and
many, many more, and they were built into a massive, secure fortress for Sir
Pig. He was so popular, he needed a
place of solitude, so he made sure the walls had extra insulation, the roof was
extra secured and the doors and windows extra thick.

Every evening, when he wasn’t out of town, he locked his
doors, secured his windows, closed the fireplace flue, and played classical
music quite loud, for the improvement of his soul.

Prime finally wandered back home, and found this brick palatial
fortress. He knocked at the door, and
begged for Trio to open the door, but this was Friday, Trio’s Richard Wagner
evening, so he couldn’t hear anything beyond his headphones.

This very night Wolf attacked.

He had heard about this brick palace, and Wolf decided that
it was a night in which stone might finally fill his always-empty belly. His deep darkness, blowing wind and sucking
entrance into another dimension surrounded the house and Wolf called out, “I am the wolf, little pig, and you
will let me in.”

Trio focused on the Ride of the Valkyries, hearing nothing
else.

Wolf spoke again, “You have no future. I am the
vortex. I am the fear no on
escapes. I am the power of the end. You cannot avoid me. Chaos and Death follow me in my wake. Breathe in, little pig and know that my
darkness descends.”

Trio shook his imaginary baton to
Der Tannenbaum.

Wolf spun and sputtered and screamed and spoke in his most
thunderous tones, “What care I
for your petty bricks and music! I am
the Devourer! I only care for you as the
tiny morsel you are. Now I descend.” So he descended and raged and blew and burst
and sucked and caused great violence. To
no avail. Wolf raged until he realized
that he wouldn’t make a dent against the house, nor would Trio even give him a
hint of the fear he so greatly desired.

As he stepped aside, he found Prime, easily for Trio had
cleared out all vegetation and stone so they wouldn’t block his view of the
sunset. Wolf took satisfaction in quickly
devouring Prime, for a pig in the mouth is better than two in a brick house.

Prime screamed and yelled and begged for his brother to let
him into his fortress. But to no avail,
for screams are as silent as threats on the inside of a fortress.

Meanwhile, Trio stopped the music and spoke aloud to
himself. “I wonder how my brothers are
doing? I wonder if they had as good
fortune as I?” He then chided himself
for his doubt. “I am sure they are doing
well. After all, they are both hard
workers, have the same wisdom from our mother as I, and have great integrity…
indeed! Greater integrity than I! I am
sure that they have all the security and peace they could ever want.”

And Trio placed the headphones upon his ears again and descended
into Wagner’s funeral music.

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About Me

I'm a pastor of the homeless and mentally ill, and as such I find I am getting more mentally ill every day. I am also a theologian/philosopher, and I am a film butt... I mean buff. Oh, and I take pictures with a cheap digital camera-- that makes me one step lower than an amateur photographer.